If Only In My Dreams
by Abarai-Chan16
Summary: Renji spends his nights tormented by startlingly realistic dreams of a mysterious man whom he has never met, but what happens when the man from his dreams moves in across the street?
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Renji spends his nights tormented by startlingly realistic dreams of a mysterious man whom he has never met, but what happens when the man from his dream moves in across the street?**

**Warnings: Rated T at the moment, may change in the future. **

**Pairings: Bya/Ren**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of it's characters, as much as I wish I did. I just like to borrow them for a little while to entertain myself with.**

**A/N ~ This is my first FanFic, please don't eat me ._.**

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><p><em>From his desk in the least shaded part of the office, the young red-headed man watched his Captain. The older man seemed unaffected by the stifling heat that had his second in command fidgeting with the neck of his kimono. Regardless of the season, or the fact that the rest of their squad had the day off, for the two sat in the Sixth Division office there was no rest to be had. Reports had long since become tiresome, and the Lieutenant found his gaze wandering upwards and across the room to glance at the long, elegant fingers with which the Captain held his brush, making sweeping strokes on the paper laid in front of him. Transfixed, he stared as the slender brunet went about his work, seemingly unaware that where, moments before, there had been two sets of scratches sounding in the office, now there was only one. Try as he might, the young red-head could not tear his eyes from the image of those perfect, pale-white hands shifting back and forth across the page.<em>

_Uncomprehending, the Lieutenant made a huge effort and managed to bow his head, fumbling with the papers on his desk, which were somewhat less organised than those facing his superior. He found that the prolonged 'glance' at the Captain had caused his hands to sweat, leaving traces of perspiration on the documents. For a fleeting moment, the idea of just one more peek at the Captain entered his mind, but he banished it. Laziness was a definite trait of the Lieutenant's. Stupidity, however, was not. There was no question of how the older man would react upon realising his subordinate had wasted valuable work hours regarding him across the room- Regarding him, how exactly? That was the question the red-head now posed to himself. Lustfully? The word, in connection with a man such as the one before him, seemed hideously disrespectful. Fascinated, perhaps? That seemed more appropriate, though doubtless it would cause no less offence to the noble, should he discover the thoughts bombarding the mind of his, now rather troubled, Lieutenant._

_Over the onslaught of his thoughts, the Lieutenant had failed to notice the silence now filling the office. The scratching of the Captain's brush had ceased. Before he even looked up he felt it. The air between the two males was thick with accusation. Unable to meet his Captain's eyes, he began to stammer out an apology._

'_T-Taichou.. I was just-' He was cut off. In a voice showing no less than the usual steely calm of the man's mannerisms, the Captain said:_

'_Oh. I know exactly what you were doing, Renji. And I wouldn't want to think you must stop on my account.' Not one second later the Captain was out of his seat and had moved across the room to stand behind the chair which the red-head sat in, paralysed. _

'_Flattered as I am by your attention, Renji, I would much prefer that the size of this pile-' He gestured to the heap of paperwork on his Lieutenant's desk, 'Does not increase any further. If you were to somehow manage to complete it by tomorrow morning, I may consider turning a blind eye to the inappropriate behaviour you have displayed tonight.'_

_The younger man nodded, and tried, unsuccessfully, to conceal the shiver that ran down his spine as he felt his Captain's breath on the back of his neck.._

Renji's POV

Whoa. That was weird. I sat up in bed and rubbed my pounding head. Stubborn as always, the throbbing pain remained. These dreams were becoming more frequent, and ,it seemed, more disturbing. Recently, almost every time I gave in to the weight of my eyelids I not only fell asleep, but also into fantasies. The worst part was the strange, almost sexual nature of the fantasies. Fantasies of the mysterious man that the dream-me called 'Taichou'.

On top of the rather worrying fact that I was dreaming of a man I had never met with steadily increasing vividness, lay the main issue. I was dreaming of a man. I mean, let's be rational here. I'm Abarai Renji, and I can say with 100% certainty that I'm only into women. Or...can I?

Up until now it wasn't something I'd given any amount of serious thought to. There was never a need. The ladies were drawn to me like moths to a 6 ft 2, muscular flame.

I couldn't leave my flat without being showered with attention, and I was always more than happy to oblige any pretty young thing who mustered up the courage to ask me out on a date.

In the circles I ran with, reputation was everything, and mine left nothing to be desired. I'll say it again. I'm Abarai Renji. That's a name which around here was famous, infamous, whispered of in sly tones when people thought I couldn't hear them. My exploits are, to the haggard old spinsters who frequent the local laundrette at least, the stuff of legends.

These days, everybody seemed to want a piece of me, and I have to say, who can blame them? Think 'Abarai' must be a hard name to spell? Try 'W-O-M-A-N-I-S-E-R'. I've spent years working on this carefully-crafted public image of mine, yet there is one thing which could bring it all crashing down around me. The slightest mention, to the wrong person, of the world I entered every time I closed my eyes, or the man who, as much as I would love to deny it, was beginning to fascinate me more and more, and all would be lost. My seemingly infallible bad-guy mask would be torn off, and nothing would ever be the same again.

Frustrated, I sighed inwardly and leaned my head back to rest against the wooden headboard. If I really must be plagued with nightly visions of a pale-skinned brunet, why couldn't they at least have breasts?

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><p><strong>AN ~ Well, that's it for the first chapter. I'm not too sure what I think about this, but if you've had a read, I'd really appreciate it if you left me a review. Tell me what you think. Thanks :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N ~ Okay, so this chapter is carrying on the night after Renji's dream. We're gonna get our first glimpse of real-world Byakuya in this chapter. Hope you like it.**

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><p>Renji's POV<p>

Breakfast. That would take my mind off things, as long as it was Rangiku's cooking, and not Shuuhei's. There was a lot more to Rangiku than the obvious, though that wasn't so terrible either.

I'd barely staggered out of my bedroom when I heard voices coming from the kitchen.

'Shuu! I'm cooking this morning, like it or not! Now, for the last time, how many eggs?'

The scene awaiting me at the end of the hall was nothing I hadn't grown accustomed to seeing. Shuuhei was perched precariously on one of the work surfaces, looking bewildered at how easily his generous offer had been rejected. Rangiku, on the other hand, was cheerfully raiding the fridge, sending various ingredients flying in all directions. Narrowly avoiding the path of an airborne tub of butter, I took a seat at the table and turned to smirk at Shuuhei.

'Don't look so wounded, Shuu. Rangiku is just too nice to tell you that your cooking sucks. That stuff could be a lethal weapon, and personally, I'm not ready to die just yet.'

My comforting words apparently didn't have the desired effect, though I honestly couldn't think why. I could tell by his steadily-reddening face that Shuuhei understood perfectly why he couldn't offer a witty comeback in retaliation. He knew I'd seen through his little wannabe chef act about thirty seconds after he'd thought it up. It was nothing more than the latest in a long string of attempts to impress Rangiku.

The three of us had met on the first day of college. Keeping in mind that we left college last year, that makes almost three years of Shuuhei's increasingly ridiculous schemes. I'd tell him to give it up and spare himself another rejection at the hands of Rangiku, who, whilst being as friendly towards him as anybody else, remained politely uninterested. Yes, I would tell him to give it up, if I didn't find it so damn funny to watch him psyche himself up each time, only to fall on his ass again.

'Renji?' Rangiku waved a frying pan dangerously close to my face. 'Fried or scrambled?' Suddenly I wasn't hungry anymore, and a quick glance towards the clock told me this was something to be grateful for.

'None for me, thanks though. I'll pick something up on the way to work.' That last bit was for her benefit. Rangiku was the mother of the house, and there was no way she would let me get away with eating nothing at all. If it came to it, I wouldn't put it past her to strap me down and shovel those eggs down my throat.

Damn. Now I knew I had issues. What man in their right mind would say no to being held down by Matsumoto Rangiku?

I stood up and made to leave the kitchen, and was halted in my tracks when I saw something I'd failed to notice on first glance, the way Rangiku was dressed. Usually I would fling a compliment her way, accompanied, of course, by my trademark bad-guy smirk, and she would respond with a flirty giggle or a wink. This morning, however, nothing. And let me tell you, it wasn't because my dear friend Rangiku looked any less attractive than normal. Whether she did it intentionally or not, Rangiku never seemed to be able to buy clothes that fit her properly. They were always one or two sizes too small. And this morning was no exception. She had a lovely little camisole on that she was almost…tumbling out of, shall we say? Now, I'm not gonna lie here, she was looking H-O-T. What worried me was that I'd had to look twice to realise it. That had never happened before.

It was then I remembered that I'd wandered off into my thoughts again, in the middle of the kitchen, with both Shuuhei and Rangiku staring quizzically at me. Shuuhei now seemed to be on the verge of a laughing fit, while Rangiku had gone red, and leant against the counter, avoiding making eye contact.

It didn't take much to work out that this situation was fast becoming awkward, so I excused myself, and tried to leave with some of my dignity, though I doubt I managed it. Heaving a sigh, I made my way back to my room, found my work suit and started to get dressed. This shouldn't be happening to me. Abarai Renji doesn't make mistakes, and he definitely doesn't make a fool out of himself. It wasn't right that these dreams could throw me into such a daze. I mean, where the hell did they even come from? I'd never even seen somebody who vaguely resembled that 'Taichou' guy. Was this my subconscious, telling me that I'd have more luck as a homosexual? Some slow acting gay gene? What the hell was wrong with me?

As I fastened up the top button of my shirt, and selected my best scarlet tie from the rack on my bedside table, I resolved to put all these distractions out of my mind. Today at the office, I would finally go over to Lucy, the new secretary who had been making eyes at me for the past three weeks since we started working together. I would flatter her all the way to oblivion, and tonight we would go to a bar and get drunk. So drunk that I wouldn't even be able to say the word 'Taichou', never mind think it.

Full of purpose, I picked up my briefcase **(A/N ~ you might be thinking 'How does he manage to carry a briefcase and** **still be so bad ass?' Answer: He's just that good.)** and strode towards the door. I reassured myself. I'm Abarai Renji, and today, nothing is going to get in my way.

Upon opening the door, the first thing I noticed was the weather. It was a beautiful day, great. That would help my mood. Nothing worse than getting rained on. Though of course, the girls love it when a soaked-to-the-skin Abarai shows up to work in a morning. The second thing, however, was not as pleasant. For the second time today, I was stopped in my tracks. You remember that brunet I told you about? The one who was appearing in my dreams with increasing frequency and starting, little by little, to drive me insane?

Well, outside the house that stood across the street from my own was parked a large van, printed on the side with 'Mick's Moving Men'. Catchy, right? The witty alliteration only managed to hold my attention for the smallest fraction of a moment, when I noticed the man standing beside the van, giving directions and stating in a calm but menacing tone that he 'would prefer it if his antiques weren't handled so roughly'.

My heart skipped a beat, and my stomach leapt into my mouth. I looked my new neighbour up and down. Slender frame, pale as a sheet, startlingly dark hair.. But most noticeably, the frosty demeanour, the way he exuded authority from every pore. So much so that I could almost smell it from all the way across the street. Oh yeah, there could be no doubt about it. This was him. Hello, Taichou…

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><p><strong>AN ~** Again, reviews are appreciated if you've taken the time to read. I promise I'll love you forever if you leave me feedback, good or bad. Thanks in advance. **Abarai-Chan16 ~ **


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